Each of you should post your proposed process here and get some feed back before dyeing.  We can maybe save you some runs and we can all learn for each other.

Comments

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 03:44

Karren K. Brito

OK, the pH's before you adjust it with acetic acid aren't critical.  I want to know the pH after you add the wool, let it set the 10 min. and then measure the pH. Sometimes the goods carry soda ash from scouring or bleaching; we hope yours doesn't but something funny is going on. Then add the dye and measure it again.  Let me know. We want it to still be near 4.5 when we start heating.

Don't order the softening chemical until we know if we need it.  A run with distilled water will tell us if it is the water or not. 

Also if you plan to use a pH meter, did you order buffer solutions to calibrate it?  pH meters need to be calibrated daily. Standard calibration buffers are pH 4, 7 and 10.

Another thought, how clean do you think this wool is?  I wonder if scouring would improve exhaustion.

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 14:36

pjdoney (not verified)

Thanks for clarifying when to check the pH from what I had written to you.

I have the calibration fluids - I've just mis-placed one of them with everything that is crammed into the room.  I'm being a pain by not wanting to re-order but at the rate I'm going through pH test strips, I'd probably save money in the long run.

I can certainly scour the wool.  I will try it first the way that I have been doing it with the class.  If I am still having issues, I'll scour the yarn and give a report back with the distilled water dye bath.

Do you have any thoughts as to why some of the colors in the Olive Green exhaust but not the red gold? 

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 15:35

Karren K. Brito

There is something wrong with the processing because it is not giving even exhaust across all colors.  That is what we have been working on; or more acurately you have been working and I have been blathering.

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 20:29

pjdoney (not verified)

I'm still in cool-down mode and haven't measured the pH yet but the water temp is close to 120 F and it looks like the same old color in the bottom of the jar.

Karren, do you have a preferred method for scouring wool yarn?

Sat, 03/26/2011 - 23:14

Karren K. Brito

What was the pH after you added the wool?

I suggest that the next round of dyeing will be 4 jars.

  1. washed in Synthrapol skein
  2. boiled in synthrapol+ soda ash skein (rinse several times to remove soda ash )
  3. unwashed skein with an extra mL of A. SET added to the jar
  4. unwashed skein with no  A.SET
  5. and if you have and old dyebath with color in it, add a skein of unwashed yarn to it and reprocess.  I wonder if the wool will take up any of the left over color.

If you think of any other variables , test them too.

Then at 30 min. dwell time I want you to have 8 or so (two for each jar)  labelled cups, jars (white or colorless) near by and remove 1TBP of each colored dyebath to the corresponding cup.  Let it process 15 more min. then  remove another 1Tbsp. to to an empty cup.  Compare the color of the older sample and just done sample.  If there is no color change you can stop the process; you are no longer fixing dye.  If there is a change continue processing; dump the older sample back into the jar it came from and  take a new sample in another 15 min.  Continue processing as long as the color is changing.

 

Tell me about this wool.  Where do you get it? What kind of wool is it? merino, coarse, superwash?  Have you used, dyed it before? what color is it? What happens when you drop it into some water to soak? does is sink right to the bottom or float to the surface?

Sun, 03/27/2011 - 02:33

pjdoney (not verified)

I am going to try and dye the normal way tomorrow using my distilled water dye bath with unscoured wool yarn.  Jeff found my missing buffers for the digital pH meter and it does not agree with my strip stick color readings!  My tap water with the digital meter was 6.9.  I think I remember the pH strip showing a reading of 5.3.  I have had a greenish cast to all my result colors and found it very difficult at times to try and determine a reading.  I sure felt dumb knowing that I was in a class learning how to disect colors and struggling with pH! 

By the way, the pH when I finished the distilled water dye bath earlier was 5.0 but I don't believe it now.  Hopefully I can dye tomorrow afternoon after church and have something positive to report back on tomorrow night!  Hope is kindled....

Sun, 03/27/2011 - 05:12

Karren K. Brito

If I had to chose between a pH meter and strips, I'd chose the strips based on my experience.

When did you calibrate the pH meter? Did you do a 2 point or a 3 point calibration? did you calibrate at pH4?

Sun, 03/27/2011 - 13:14

pjdoney (not verified)

We did a two point calibration last night of 7 and 4.  Then we tested our water.

I'll try and write more later about the yarn, etc.

Mon, 03/28/2011 - 00:54

pjdoney (not verified)

It'll probably be tomorrow morning before I know if the dye job worked.  We ate lunch after church and received a phone call from our youngest.  It appears that she caught whooping cough (pertussis) from the kids at her work.  She needed groceries and medication so that took up time.  The dwell time will be done in a few more minutes and then the cool down. 

Looking forward to seeing the results.